Goodbye Sandy

One week ago today our spunky dog Sandy died.  It's still difficult for me to admit it.  Here's the story: About 2 weeks ago I was at our ranch with the kids towards the end of Owen's spring break.  While we were there Sandy was running like a crazy dog all over the place and accidentally got run over by a truck.  We took her to the Vet in Brady right away and they found no broken bones (which is totally amazing).  The Vet gave her some pain medication and advised us to keep an eye on her and let her rest for a few weeks.  Five days after the accident we noticed some serious swelling in her abdomen and last Thursday we took her to her Vet here in Austin.  It turns out, she had serious internal injuries and we ended up having to put her to sleep.

This is probably the most difficult thing we've had to do as a family.  We waited until Owen got home from school that day and discussed what was going on with him.  He decided he wanted to see her one last time to say goodbye, so we all went to the Vet's office together.  Owen brought her some treats and Adler brought her a stick.  It was an emotional, tearful goodbye, but Micah stayed and said her death was very peaceful.

Sandy spent seven and a half years with us after we adopted her from the animal shelter in Carson City in 2005.  It was estimated that she was around 9 years old.  I honestly had a love-hate relationship with her, as she was sometimes very challenging.  She had crazy energy and was a professional escapee of the yard......she would dig and climb and jump her way out, stay away for hours at a time, but always come back home.  She's chewed up probably 20 pairs of shoes over the years, destroyed many toys, chewed through a seat belt in my car (that costs hundreds of dollars to replace), dug up flowers, broken many pots, and would generally eat anything within her reach.  One Thanksgiving she pulled a cooked ham off the counter and started chowing down. 

She had personality for sure, and she was also extremely loyal and fiercely protective.  She loved to hike, run and chase rabbits and birds.  She loved to swim, even when she was shivering from the Tahoe cold.  She just didn't know when to stop.  She adored Micah and got so excited when he took her out for a skateboard ride, she could barely contain herself. She hated wind and thunder made her really nervous.  Her whole body would shake and she would try to crawl up into our laps.

 As I was going through pictures this week I realized she had a pretty good life.  She was fearful and timid when we adopted her, but she fit into our family better than we ever admitted.  Of course we could have gotten her out more, but she had some fun adventures.  These are a few of my favorite pictures of her over the years.

She loved any activity we were doing with the kiddos....especially bubbles!

 I found so many pictures of Owen with Sandy together and am grateful for all the fun times they had together (not so grateful for that one incident, but I won't go into that now).  Owen absolutely loved that dog and I'm pretty certain the feeling was mutual.

 This was the very last picture taken of Sandy last week.  Adler also had a special relationship with Sandy and would often treat her like one of her babies, covering her with blankets and putting her to sleep.

I'm sorry she won't be a part of our adventures in Texas.  I miss that crazy dog.

Spring Break

This is the first Spring Break I've been able to enjoy since I was in college....I think I could get used to this!  Micah had to work, but the kids and I spent 5 days in College Station and then 3 days at our ranch in Brady.  It was a nice break for Owen and fun to spend quality time with family! But we sure did miss Micah!!

with my brother and sister!

 We spent one afternoon at Grand Station bowling and playing video games with cousin Jordynn!

 Micah and Owen had a blast fishing with Pop at Central Park!  They caught one tiny catfish.

 Here are the kids riding with Grandma on the riding lawn mower!

 We all went horseback riding with Mary and Madison, along with Fergie the horse, of course.

Spent time with cousins Hadley and Keely

 The ranch is always fun for everyone!  The kid's favorite things to do at the ranch are ride the tractor, feed the cattle, and ride around in the golf cart looking for animals.  This trip they saw deer, turkey, rabbits, and a skunk.  My favorite thing this trip was star gazing at night.

Grandma and Adler

Owen and "Calfy"

 My grandmother recently moved into a new assisted living facility and we enjoyed visiting her several times.  She even came out to the ranch with us one day!

Zilker Park Kite Festival

I am seriously LOVING Austin right now!  The weather, the food, the activities.....all incredible!  On Sunday we attended our first kite festival.  It reminded us a lot of the Reno Balloon Races, except it was warmer and more interactive with everyone flying kites.

 Apparently over 20,000 people showed up at Kite Fest.  Thanks to some good recommendations from friends we found our way in and out fairly easily.

 Micah took his trick kite out and flew it for a while, but there were so many other kites around us he didn't want to risk getting it tangled up.  Next year we'll bring a cheaper kite that we won't worry about so much.

 This will definitely be an annual event for us. Looking forward to next year!

How can it be March????

Time is just flying by.  March is my favorite month of the year, and I have a feeling I'm going to much prefer March in Texas over Nevada. 

 Our backyard is filled with snails and shells.  The kids love to search all the shells until they find a snail.  This one was especially friendly.

 For Valentine's Day I bought Micah tickets to see Bob Schneider in concert.  It was held last week in Gruene Hall, and I can honestly say he's my new favorite musician!  He's a local Austin artist but Micah's been following him for years on Pandora.  He put on a fantastic show......I'm certain we'll be seeing him again.  Fun night...thanks Mom, for babysitting!

 I walked in on Adler doing this the other day. Her dress was soaked but she was all smiles.

Meet Cecily: 

This is Adler's butterfly creation from last week's art class.